Holiday display and storage assembly

ABSTRACT

A vertically stacking assembly for retainment of objects for hiding from view or displaying of the objects at incremental heights, providing selectably configurable appearance for discrete stacking components, and which is collapsible for storage or relocation. It supports configuration so as to provide an ornamental appearance of a tree or other shape which preferably tapers to progressively smaller diameter with increasing height.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

There are no prior applications related to this application, and no claim is made to any prior document.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

This invention is not subject to any requirement to assign any part or interest to the US Government. It was not developed according to any federal sponsorship, nor was there any research conducted under federally sponsored research or development.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to display structures, storage structures, hideaways, secret compartments, tree-like displays, assemblies, freestanding storage structures, holiday decorations, collapsible structures, and stackable assemblies.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There exists in several gift giving holidays a need to provide festive displays or a temporary location for gifts. In particular, a common practice is that of a seasonally erected and decoration of a tree, such as the celebration of Christmas. These displays frequently appear in private homes, social gatherings, offices, and even commercial areas such as shopping malls or offices.

One common practice is to decorate such trees with strings of lights, small toys, holiday signs, photographs, shiny or brightly colored objects, and any other object which is suitable to retainment on such a tree. The entire category of such objects is broadly referred to as “Christmas tree ornaments.” Another common practice with respect to such holidays is to dedicate an area as a temporary gift-holding area until an appropriate time of dissemination. Lastly, another common practice in the field is to provide the functional and aesthetic value of a tree through use of an artificial tree.

Artificial trees have numerous advantages over a natural tree. Many can be collapsed and stored, do not decay or fall apart, and are less likely to be a fire hazard. However, there are problems in natural trees that remain persistent problems in the field of artificial trees. Predominantly across the art, the only place for storage of objects is in the space between the supporting surface and the lowest rung of branches of the tree. This can be a very difficult and inconvenient place to reach. It also does little to aid people who are tempted to open presents to resist the urge to peek or even open and use such gifts. There remains the limitation that providing a treelike appearance requires conceding the internal volume of the assembly as being necessarily dedicated as solely inaccessible structure of the plant.

These persistent problems of the art therefore provide several objects of the invention.

It is an object of the invention to provide a structure which has the ornamental appearance of a tree.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a structure which provides areas for storage or display of objects.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a structure which is easily collapsible for storage or otherwise being moved.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention achieves the stated objects of the invention by providing an assembly configurable to provide an ornamental appearance of a tree while also providing areas within the assembly for objects to facilitate either displaying objects or hiding them. It also provides for configurability into a compact assembly which is sufficiently small so as to be easier to store or otherwise put in a collapsed position.

The assembly comprises a plurality of stackable spools. When assembled, each spool provides its own area capable of receiving objects. Such objects can include decorations or gifts or other things which are desirable to site within the structure or retain by connection to an element within the assembly. To provide the desirable ornamental appearance, each spool is adapted to receive ornamental elements. To provide an ornamental appearance of a tree, any or all of the plurality of spools can be fitted with tree-like elements, such as a branch or branches. To provide the appearance of a tree or other shape of configuring the assembly, the spools may be fitted with a cover. Such a cover can in whole or in part occlude view of the area of a spool for receiving objects. Contemplated covers include ones which, like spools which comprise branches, also provide an ornamental appearance of a tree. For purposes of considering the broadest set of elements that provide ornamental appearance of a tree, any cover 34 applied to the assembly should also be considered a type of ornamental element.

To further provide the appearance of a tree, the assembly may also include a cap, the cap providing the assembly with a top piece that provides the ornamental appearance of the very top of a tree.

The assembly is variously configurable according to the preferences of a user. All spools are capable of being configured as any type of spool without interference with the function of any other spool of the assembly. While the objects of the invention include the desire to provide the appearance of a tree, the assembly is also configurable to achieve other shapes with a tapered overall appearance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a front elevation of an assembly having the appearance of a tree.

FIG. 2 shows a front elevation of an assembly having the appearance of a tree with an open shelf portion.

FIG. 3 shows components of an assembly spaced apart and showing method of assembly.

FIG. 4 shows a sectioned front elevation of an assembly having the appearance of a tree with an open shelf portion.

FIG. 5 shows a sectioned front elevation view of an assembly having the appearance of a tree, showing internal components.

FIG. 6 shows several high-angle front views of an assembly in an erect position,

FIG. 6A shows a sectioned high-angle front view of an assembly in an erect position.

FIG. 6B shows a high-angle front view of a supporting post of an assembly in an erect position.

FIG. 6C shows a sectioned high-angle front view of stacking spools of an assembly stacked in a collapsed position.

FIG. 6D shows a sectioned high-angle front view of a supporting post of an assembly in a collapsed position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, shown is the assembly 10 comprising a support 26, a post 12 and a plurality of spools 14. Each spool 14 is an incremental progression from bottom to top. Spools which are towards the lower end of the tree are “prior” spools and each of the spools which are successively higher up in the assembly are “successive” spools. The assembly as shown in FIG. 1 has the appearance of a tree, though the invention inventor contemplates other embodiments which are not limited to the shape of the tree.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 5, there is shown various front elevation views of the assembly in an erected position, having the appearance of a tree. The tree successively comprises a support 26, a post, 12, a flange 24, a plurality of successive spools 14, and a cap 30. With respect to FIGS. 4-6, four successive spools are visible, though the invention is capable of configuration with an assembly of unlimited value quantity of such spools. Each spool comprises a shelf element 32, and they cumulatively comprise a variety of features, including but not limited to an ornamental element 40, a cover 34, and an open area 36.

Referring to FIG. 3, each spool comprises an open region 16, a bottom most diameter 20, and a uppermost diameter 22. In all of the spools shown in FIG. 3, the bottom most diameter is larger than the top most diameter.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show sectioned front views of the assembly in alternative erected configurations. There is a plurality of spools that are stacked successively, along the direction from the support 26 toward the cap 30. The spools are aligned to a central post 12, the post being arranged to an upright position by the support 26. Each of the plurality of spools 14 is successively applied atop a prior spool.

For the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5, the bottom most diameter of each successive spool is smaller than the bottom most diameter of the prior spool. Cumulatively, the progression from larger bottom most diameters of prior spool's toward smaller bottom most diameters of successive spools provides the shown embodiments with a tapering overall ornamental shape. FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment that is configured with such ornamental elements and fully assembled to provide 0 the ornamental appearance of a tree. In FIG. 2 the assembly is also configured and assembled to provide the ornamental appearance of a tree, but one of the plurality of spools 14 does not comprise any ornamental element, and shows an area 36 atop a shelf portion of one of the spools.

In FIG. 4, each area 36 is configured to accommodate the placement of ornamental or gift or other items within the ornamental profile of the assembly in a space bound by the bottom most diameter of a spool and the top most diameter of that spool, while in FIG. 5, it is defined by the bottom most diameter of a spool and the bottom most diameter of the immediately successive spool.

The assemblies of FIGS. 4 and 5 depict spools each having ornamental elements that provide embodiments of the assembly with the overall ornamental appearance of a tree. FIG. 5's ornamental element being each and any of the covers 34, while FIG. 4's assembly comprises a spool which comprises at least one branch as its ornamental element 40. The ornamental element 40 shown in FIG. 4 is also visible in FIG. 2, sited on the spool labeled 14 c. That spool 14 c comprises a plurality of ornamental elements which occupy at least a portion of its open area 36. Another ornamental element shown in all figures is any instance of a cover 34. In FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 6, each cover 34 extends from approximately the position of the bottommost shelf portion of a spool to the bottommost shelf portion of a prior spool. In FIGS. 4 and 5, at least one of the plurality of spools 14 shows a cover 34 assembled to at least extend vertically approximately from the position of the bottom most diameter of a spool to the bottom most diameter of the immediately prior spool. The distance covered between the bottom diameters covered defines the height of the area 36, covering at least a portion of the shelf portion 32, and at least partially enclosing/covering the area 36. Both FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show a post 12 which aligns the spools 14. The post 12 in FIG. 4 has a continuous diameter along its length. FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment of a post 12 that has a stepwise progressively smaller diameter in the direction from the support 26 toward the cap 30. FIG. 6 also shows the post 12 of FIG. 5 in an erect position, supporting spools in FIG. 6A, and the post 12 standing in isolation in FIG. 6B. FIG. 6D shows the post 12 common to FIGS. 5 and 6 in a collapsed position, with each of its stepwise diameter sections concentrically retained within the support 26. In FIGS. 5 and 6, it is shown that, in order to engage the stepwise progressively smaller diameters of the post 12, the open regions 16 for each of successive spool has a correspondingly smaller internal diameter than the immediately prior spool.

Referring to FIG. 6C, The spools 14 and each of their respective covers 34 are shown in a compact/collapsed/stowed position, wherein the successive spools are stacked in reversed order, with a prior spool atop a successive spool. The stepwise larger diameter of the open region 16 of each successive spool is large enough to concentrically and nestably receive a prior spool. In so doing, each spool with a larger bottommost diameter is stacked atop a spool of smaller bottommost diameter. Each cover 34 for each spool, according to the successively smaller bottom most diameters of the spools 14 is therefore also sized to allow each to fit concentrically within the cover 34 for each successive spool. Therefore, the entire set of spools 14 shown in FIG. 6C is able to consume a much smaller vertical distance than the height of the post 12 in its erected position (as shown in FIGS. 5, 6A, and 6B), and as compared to when the same spools 14 are stacked in successive order. 

1. An ornamental assembly that defines a tree shape, the assembly comprising: a post, a plurality of spools each defining a central opening that engages with the post when each spool is attached thereon, wherein the assembly has an assembled arrangement in which each of the plurality of spools are successively engaged with the post and each spool has a bottom-most surface having a major diameter greater than a major diameter of a top-most surface, in order to approximate the tree shape.
 2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the post further includes a flange for elevating a first spool from a ground surface.
 3. The assembly of claim 1, further including a support at a proximal end of the post.
 4. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the post defines a cross-section of reducing diameter along the length thereof, and an arrangement of the spools have the central opening that approximates the cross-section of reducing diameter of the post.
 5. The assembly of claim 1, further including a cap for engaging the distal end of the post,
 6. The assembly of claim 5, wherein the cap defines a triangular shape.
 7. The assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of spools defines a shelf portion above the bottom-most surface of the spool.
 8. The assembly of claim 7, further including a cover extending from the at least one of the spools that selectively covers at least a portion of an area exposed by the shelf portion.
 9. The assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of spools defines at least one ornamental element for approximating the tree shape.
 10. The assembly of claim 9, wherein the element is a branch.
 11. The assembly of claim 1, wherein each successive spool within the assembled arrangement is nestably received within a bottom of the prior spaced spool.
 12. An assembly that defines a tree shape, the assembly comprising: a post with a lower end and a higher end, a plurality of spools each defining a central opening that engages with the post when each successive spool is successively attached and engaged onto the post, successively meaning in being stacked in order of increasing distance from the lower end, successively engaged with the post, where each spool has a bottom-most surface and a top-most surface, the bottom-most surface having a major diameter greater than a major diameter of a top-most surface, in order to approximate the tree shape, and further wherein the assembly defines a tree shape such that the tree shape provides the ornamental appearance of a tree selected from a list comprising: conifer, leafy, conical, evergreen, deciduous, fruit-bearing-plant, and plant-like-tree.
 13. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the post elevates a first spool a sufficient distance from a ground surface that a substantial space is defined by a ground surface and the bottom-most surface of the first spool, the first spool being one which is engaged with the post at the shortest distance from the lower end of the post, relative to the other spools of the plurality of spools.
 14. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the post defines a cross-section of reducing diameter along the length thereof, and the successive arrangement of the spools have correspondingly reducing diameters of their respective central openings.
 15. The assembly of claim 14, wherein the correspondingly reducing diameters are of constant diameter with respect to each individual spool, and do not taper with respect to each spool, taken individually.
 16. The assembly of claim 12, further including a cap for engaging the higher end of the post, the cap being an ornamental element providing the assembly with the ornamental appearance of a tree by the cap being an ornamental element that itself has the ornamental appearance of a tree.
 17. The assembly of claim 12, wherein at least one of the plurality of spools defines a shelf portion above the bottom-most surface of the spool, and wherein an open area is defined by the bottom most diameter of the spool and the bottom most diameter of a successive spool, a successive spool being one which is further in distance from the lower end of the post.
 18. The assembly of claim 17, further including a cover extending a distance at least a distance that is sufficiently large to cover from view the open area.
 19. The assembly of claim 12, wherein at least one of the plurality of spools defines at least one ornamental element that provides the ornamental appearance of a tree.
 20. The assembly of claim 19, wherein the element is a branch.
 21. The assembly of claim 19, wherein the element is a cluster of sub-elements, such that the ornamental appearance of the tree has a tree-surface-like outer appearance or texture.
 22. The assembly of claim 21, wherein the tree-surface-like outer appearance or texture appears to be a dense cluster of branches.
 23. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the bottom-most diameter of each successive spool defines a bottom, and wherein the top-most diameter of each successive spool defines a top, and wherein each spool of the plurality of spools is nestably receivable within the bottom of the prior spaced spool, the prior spaced spool meaning the spool which is of a closer location to the lower end of the post.
 24. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the assembly is collapsible by the plurality of spools comprising spools that are reversibly stackable, reversibly stackable meaning that a successive spool fits atop a preceding spool without nestably overlapping, when stacked in increasing distance from the lower end of the post, and that a successive spool fits nestably into the preceding spool, when the preceding spool is stacked atop the successive spool, in the opposite order than in the order which does not nestably overlap the successive and preceding spools.
 25. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the assembly further provides the ornamental appearance of a tree by being adapted to receive gifts and objects which are festively storable, festively storable meaning objects adapted to be stored or displayed as decoration or stowed until a gift-giving moment, but not including perishable un-tree-like food items, such as shrimp. 